The representation of Shakespeare’s Katherine and Cleopatra through gender, genre, and feminist ethics

Abstract

This dissertation explores the representation of the female characters Katherine and Cleopatra in Shakespeare’s 'The Taming of the Shrew' and 'Antony and Cleopatra' through the frameworks of gender ideology, dramatic genre, and feminist ethics. The first chapter begins with the role of women in early modern England. The works of Jacqueline Eales on womanhood and the dichotomy between good/evil, as well as the concepts of the ‘Self’ and ‘Other’ as outlined in Linda Bamber’s study amongst others, are then presented and applied to analyse the texts. The second chapter examines how different genres influence interpretations of the characters Katherine and Cleopatra. Whether it is through a foreign theatrical style such as commedia dell’arte or through a hybridity of genres, the history and the development of these plays is explored. The last chapter examines the moral dilemmas that the characters encounter from a feminist ethic viewpoint by first outlining structuralist myths that underlie traditional ethics and then destabilising them through the feminist perspectives presented in the works of Simone de Beauvoir and others. The two are shown to assert their independence, giving themselves the power to not only speak their minds but also to take crucial decisions as the female protagonists in the respective plays.